


calamitous love and insurmountable grief

by sapphicnimueh



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Morgwen - Freeform, Picnics, i kinda lost track of the original prompt and just wrote them being in love whoops, merlin is the biggest morgwen supporter wbk, morgana calls gwen 'love' and it makes me soft, morgana just wants gwen to be happy, not beta read we die like men, something to cheer you up you cheer me up, they're so in love, this might be ooc but oh well i think it's cute so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:34:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26315014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphicnimueh/pseuds/sapphicnimueh
Summary: Morgana frowned. There had to be something she could do, she just needed time to think about it. In the meantime, she ran her fingers through Gwen’s hair until they both fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.ORMorgana notices Gwen thinking about her father and does something to cheer her up.
Relationships: Gwen & Morgana (Merlin), Gwen/Morgana (Merlin)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 34





	calamitous love and insurmountable grief

**Author's Note:**

> dedicated to val and zhu :')  
> love you two <3

Morgana could tell whenever Gwen’s thoughts were plagued with those of her father. Thoughts of Tom haunted her; she slept less, ate less, and never fully paid attention to anyone. She would dedicate every waking moment to her work as a distraction. And whenever she wasn’t working, she was standing in her home, staring blankly at the bed where her father used to sleep. Her thoughts plagued her and it broke Morgana’s heart.

After almost a full week of the corners of Gwen’s lips being turned down in a frown, Morgana knew she had to do something to cheer her girlfriend up. 

The following day, Morgana spent the entire afternoon out in the meadows surrounding the castle gathering flowers. She spent hours outside, hunting for the flowers with the most colour, the largest petals, the sweetest smell. Gwen deserved perfect and Morgana was going to make sure she got nothing shy of it. When she was finally satisfied with her bouquet, she made her way back into the lower town.

She slowly pushed open the door to Gwen’s house, being careful to not scare the woman sitting inside.

“Gwen?” Morgana called softly, her face falling as she saw her girlfriend standing there. 

Gwen was sitting at the table, her hands folded in her lap and her eyes trained on the unmade bed in the corner. 

“Gwen?” Morgana repeated, crossing the threshold into the house and closing the door behind her. 

“Morgana,” Gwen mumbled, briefly looking behind her to give Morgana a sad smile. 

“How are you doing, love?” she tried to keep the conversation going as she reached into one of the cupboards for a vase for the flowers. She filled the glass with water from the bucket on the floor and placed it on the table behind Gwen. Careful to not mess up the petals, Morgana lowered the bouquet into the water. “I brought something to cheer you up,” Morgana said as she made her way to Gwen. Once she was in front of her, she lowered herself to her knees and placed her hands upon Gwen’s. 

Gwen shifted in her seat to admire the flowers Morgana brought. “They’re beautiful.”

With a sigh, Morgana reached up and cupped Gwen’s face with both hands. She guided her face back so they were making eye contact. Gwen’s eyes brimmed with tears as Morgana rubbed circles into her cheeks with her thumbs.

“Come here,” Morgana whispered, gently pulling Gwen off the chair and onto the floor beside her. Gwen curled into her, hiding her face in Morgana’s shoulder as tears began to fall down her cheeks.

“I miss him so much.”

“I know.”

The two sat like that until the sun went down.

***

Morgana awoke to Gwen bustling around her room. She sat up in bed and surveyed her surroundings. Gwen had set a plate of breakfast on the table as well as filled the water jug. The windows were opened, the sun shining into the room. Her clothes for the day were set out at the foot of her bed, her hairbrush lying atop the dress and her shoes on the ground. To her left, Gwen was standing with her back to her, placing folded blankets into a cupboard.

She got up out of bed quietly and pulled a robe over her nightclothes. Morgana walked over to Gwen and wrapped her arms around her waist from behind, resting her chin on her shoulder. “How much sleep did you get last night?” she asked, placing a small kiss on her jawline.

“You don’t need to worry about me,” Gwen brushed Morgana’s concerns aside and continued putting away the blankets.

Morgana huffed in frustration and let go of Gwen, grabbing for the blankets in her arms instead. With the sounds of Gwen’s protests, Morgana hastily shoved the fabrics into the cupboard and closed the door. She turned around to face her girlfriend. 

Dark circles surrounded her eyes and the frown on her face was more prominent than it had been the day before.

“Gwen.”

“Morgana,” Gwen replied, breaking out of her grasp and walking to the table to grab the basket of clothes. “I’m serious, you don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine!”

Morgana wasn’t one to give up easily. She walked up behind Gwen and grabbed both her hands, dragging her over to the bed. 

“Let yourself relax, Gwen,” Morgana pleaded, pulling her down so they could lie next to each other on the bed. 

Gwen sighed and relaxed. She wrapped her arms around the woman beside her and whispered, “it’s hard to relax when all I can think about is him.”

“What can I do to get your mind off of him?”

“I’m not sure there is anything you can do.” 

Morgana frowned. There had to be something she could do, she just needed time to think about it. In the meantime, she ran her fingers through Gwen’s hair until they both fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.

***

“Have you tried bringing her flowers?”

“Of course I’ve tried that, Merlin,” Morgana sighed, exasperated. “I’ve also helped her with her work, cooked dinner for her, gone for walks with her, and every night I have held her until she falls asleep. I hate seeing her like this but I don’t know what else I can do to cheer her up.”

Merlin hummed in response. The two were sitting on the steps of the castle, enjoying the fresh air of the morning. In her last attempt at finding a way to make Gwen happy, Morgana had asked Merlin for suggestions. She knew the two of them were close, so she hoped he would have a good idea.

“Back when I lived in Ealdor,” Merlin began, a sad smile forming on his face, “Will and I would go on picnics. That might work.”

Morgana glanced over at Merlin and smiled. She placed her arm around his shoulders and thanked him for the idea. 

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

“I can help you set it up if you’d like. I’ve set up a fair amount of picnics for Arthur, so I know a couple of nice places.”

“Thank you, Merlin, but I think I know the perfect place.” 

Merlin stood up and offered Morgana his hand. “Then you better get going.”

***

“Morgana, where are we going? There’s work I need to do at the castle,” Gwen said, exasperated as she followed an all-too-excited Morgana through the lower town.

“I told you, love, you don’t need to do any work. I am perfectly capable of folding my own laundry. And I’ve explained this plenty of times: the point of a surprise is for you to not know what it is.” Morgana called behind her shoulder, excitedly hurrying through the streets. She had a feeling this would be the thing that finally cheered Gwen up. 

Their footsteps mingled with the sound of the townsfolk - children playing, doors opening, voices trading goods. Morgana stopped abruptly in front of an old woman selling small baked pies. 

“You’ll love these,” Morgana said to Gwen as she exchanged coins for two small pastries. “They’re much better than what they make in the castle.”

Gwen smiled politely and thanked the woman before setting off behind Morgana once again.

The two continued down the street and onto the path leading towards the forest surrounding the castle. 

“Where are we going, Morgana?” Gwen was hesitant. She trusted Morgana, of course, but the uncertainty made her wary.

Morgana stopped and turned to face Gwen. Their fingers linked together as they made eye contact. “Someplace I hope will cheer you up. I know you’ve been thinking about your father lately and it kills me to see you live with and suffer through such grief. But I understand if you wish to turn back.”

Gwen tucked a stray strand of hair behind Morgana’s ear and pressed a loving kiss to her lips. “You treat me so well, Morgana. Let’s go.”

A bright smile made its way to Morgana’s face as she started walking again, holding Gwen’s hand tight.

After they stepped into the trees, Morgana picked up her pace, excited to show Gwen what she had set up. A few more minutes of walking and they had arrived at their destination. 

They found themselves in front of a creek, three stones sticking up from the water and acting as a path. When they crossed, Gwen noticed the pile of blankets on the ground, complete with pillows and a basket full of what she could only assume to be food.

“Morgana?” Gwen said, taken aback by the beauty and familiarity of their location. “Is… is this where…?”

Morgana smiled softly at her girlfriend. “Where I took you when I first told you I loved you. And nothing’s changed since that day. I loved you then and I love you now. And I want to help you with anything you may be going through. I know you lost your father, and I am so sorry. But you’re not alone. I will always be here for you.”

“I love you.”

Their lips locked in a tender kiss. Every kiss she shared with Gwen sent a tingle down her spine and set butterflies free in her chest. Every kiss brought a blush to her cheeks and a smile to her face.

They pulled apart, smiling lovingly at each other. Morgana wrapped her arms around Gwen’s waist and rested her forehead against hers.

“Something to cheer you up?”

“You cheer me up.”

**Author's Note:**

> hello !
> 
> huge thank you to zhu for the idea and val for suggesting i write it. you both hyped this up so much i hope you like it! 
> 
> i might add more onto this later on, but for now i'm happy with it! i wanted to showcase morgana's adoration for gwen more than anything and i think i did.
> 
> as always, twitter is the best place to reach me @sapphicnimueh ! getting dms from people who found my twitter through my fics makes my day, so don't be shy :')
> 
> comments and kudos are always appreciated :)


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